Optimism around a potential coronavirus vaccine and the reopening of the US economy have given the stock market another winning week. It rose by 3.3% each week, up 3.2% and up 3.4%. These positive catalysts are likely to give the market an extra boost, which is currently ignoring mounting tensions between the US and China.
Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NPR that Moderna's (NASDAQ 🙂 vaccination data seemed "promising" and he remains "excited" about the reopening of the economy.
During the upcoming trading week, which is a day shorter due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, we will focus on the following three stocks:
1. Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com (NYSE 🙂 will publish its fiscal first quarter 2021 earnings on Thursday, May 28, after market closes. The company, which sells business software and cloud-based services to corporate customers, is expected to report more than $ 4.86 billion in revenue and $ 0.69 in earnings per share.
One of the biggest drivers of future growth for Salesforce is the company's $ 15.3 billion acquisition of Tableau Software last year. The all-stock deal was Salesforce's largest transaction ever, part of the move to expand into the business intelligence arena.
According to the company, the Tableau deal will further spur the software manufacturer into competition with segment giants Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ 🙂 and Oracle (NYSE :), both of which offer business intelligence tools.
Salesforce.com shares have risen more than 9% this year, after recovering from the dive caused by the corona virus. They closed on Friday for $ 177.85 and gained 1.48% on the day.
2. Costco
The retail trade will be re-examined on Thursday when Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ 🙂 will close its third quarter results after the end of the financial year. reports the fiscal year 2020. Analysts expect $ 2.71 per share in earnings with revenues of $ 49.97 billion.
Costco, along with Walmart (NYSE :), has been one of the main beneficiaries of pandemic-related consumer supplies in recent weeks as home-bound customers boast of toilet paper, breakfast cereal, and other everyday essentials while hiding.
During the 35 weeks ending May 3, Costco reported net sales of $ 107.64 billion, up 7.8% from $ 99.89 billion in the year-ago period.
That gain shows that the retailer continued to take advantage of the corona virus-induced demand for consumer goods, despite the limited services or shutdowns of entire departments. These limitations can still hurt and future growth. Costco shares are up 3% for the year, closing $ 302.43 on Friday.
3. Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies (NYSE 🙂 will also present its fiscal results for the first quarter of 2021 on Thursday, May 28, after the market closed, to announce. Analysts expect earnings per share of $ 0.99 on revenues of $ 20.66 billion.
Bloomberg reported last week that Dell will discontinue contributions to the 401 (k) employee retirement plans under a matching program beginning June 1 due to the shrinking economy and declining information technology spending.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company has not done that since February, so it's unclear how high the toll of the pandemic is for the hardware maker. Software maker VMware (NYSE :), of which Dell owns more than 80%, also reportedly cut salaries, executive pay and 401 (k) matches in response to the faltering global economy.
The shares of the information technology company have fallen by 16% this year. Dell closed at $ 43.07 on Friday, down about 3%.
The company, which was already facing soft IT spending before COVID-19 reached major economies this year, was able to further lower its sales forecast.
